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Allscripts chief executive Glen Tullman blamed the “noise” around a potential buyout of the electronic health records company for a 39% drop in bookings to $162 million during the third quarter, compared to the same period last year. In September, Bloomberg floated rumors that private equity firms, such as Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, and now TPG Capital were bidding for Allscripts; Tullman has since confirmed that the company is looking to go private.

The company’s troubles didn’t begin in the third quarter. They stretch back to September 2010, when Allscripts, a top seller in doctors’ offices and small hospitals, with a menu of EHRs, decided to extend its reach to bigger hospitals by acquiring Eclipsys. Tullman overestimated how long it would take for the company to integrate with Eclipsys. Instead of profiting from the government-subsidized EHR gold rush which ends in 2016—an impetus for the merger, Allscripts found itself grappling with product delays. Its market value dissipated. The firing of its chairman, the resignation of its chief financial officer, as well as three board members added to the perception of disarray, prompting one big investor to call for Tullman’s resignation this past April.

Customers wait and see, while others have moved on to competitors. In April, the University of Arizona Medical Center dropped Allscripts for Epic Systems, and last month, Allscripts lost a lucrative bid to Epic to install electronic health records in New York City’s public hospital system. There is no shortage of chief information officers sighing with relief for not having Allscripts, or competitors shaking their heads at its misfortune (and their good fortune).

They may not have much of a choice financially, but the majority of clients have stuck so far with Allscripts. “They have a large installed base that’s been fairly loyal,” says Michael Cherny, a health care analyst at ISI Group. Several customers declined to speak or didn’t return calls, but Jim Murry was more forthcoming. He’s the chief information officer at University of California, Irvine Health. Out of the five medical centers in the UC system, Irvine was the only one to stick with Allscripts, whereas the others have recently implemented Epic. Irvine is also a test site for Allscripts, as it redesigns its products.

Although the decision to adopt Allscripts (formerly Eclipsys) preceded his tenure at Irvine, Murry cites two key reasons why Allscripts is worth it:

1- Not every hospital can afford Epic. “It’s a huge financial obligation [to buy and maintain],” he says. True. For some hospitals, buying Epic can put their balance sheet at risk, but as an industry adage goes “no one gets fired for buying Epic.”

2- Allscripts’ open architecture. Tullman has for some time now been talking about his “app store,” which allows third party developers to build on its EHR platform. “It’s phenomenal,” says Murry. Ophthalmologists at Irvine, for example, use a dedicated EHR from Medflow through Allscripts. Another customer, Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center was able to build applications to track patients’ length of stay, and whether a patient was readmitted into the hospital within 30 days (to avoid Medicare penalties).

Murry thinks Allscripts will be back on solid footing in early 2014—a long time, but he’s willing to hang on. “I will tell you we’ve looked at this hard and feel it’s the right horse. I’m banking that they’re going to work,” he says.